ex Cyclone Gita New Plymouth update: Fix It crews at last water connection location

6pm update, 24th February

• Our Fix It crews have been working hard on the streets and we’re more than ¾ of the way through stand piping* about 100 fire hydrants.
• Waitara, Lepperton, Highlands Park and Bell Block now have water in taps. This includes some big commercial users.
• We’re half way through Glen Avon and we’ve started in Urenui, the last location (including Tikorangi and Onaero).
• Its critical everyone continues to boil water.
• Once we have the 100 fire hydrants completed, we’ll then move into the water quality phase where we make sure it is safe to drink while working with health officials.
• While we’re rebooting our water system we have crews on the ground monitoring flows and please let us know on 06 759 6060 or our Facebook page, if you see anything unusual.
• We are making solid progress but there is still a lot of work to do, following the New Plymouth water pipe being damaged during ex Cyclone Gita on Tuesday night.
• Its likely to take about a week before we can lift the boil water notice.
* Stand piping involves manually removing the lid of fire hydrants, and installing a vertical pipe (stand pipe) which allows air and water to escape the system as it is gradually refilled. We need to do this slowly so we can control the pressure, venting the air from the pipes as water rushes in. People will see water coming out of the pipe and this is an important safety measure; confirming the pipes are full of water and we are controlling the pressure. Each stand piping takes several hours.

Water tanker locations
Water from the tankers that have been provided in critical areas does not need to be boiled.
The tankers are operating from 6am to 9pm at the following sites:
• Hickford Park Car Park (end of Smeaton Road), Bell Block.
• Bell Block Court, Bell Block (outside The Warehouse).
• Outside Waitara Memorial Hall, Memorial Place, Waitara.
• Clifton Park car park, opposite Waitara High School, Princess Street, Waitara.
• Outside Tennis/Bowling Club, Manutahi Road, Lepperton.
• Rimu Street Industrial Park, Rimu Street, Merrilands, New Plymouth.
• Outside Mangorei School, Mangorei Road, New Plymouth.
· 31 Onaero Beach Road.
· Urenui Corner Whakapaki Street & Ngakoti Streets opposite the primary school.
Please take your own containers for filling.

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